Boeing receives the noble Sustainability Leadership Award

Boeing was awarded the Sustainability Leadership Award 2020 by the National Association of Manufacturers. This award was in recognition of the company’s innovative efforts to recycle aerospace carbon fibre, diverting waste away from being dumped in landfills across the world.

In 2018, the company had partnered with a UK-based ELG Carbon Fibre to recycle excess aerospace carbon fibre. Boeing collects the scrap material which ELG then treats in the furnace to remove binding agents. This process results in a clean material that can be sold to a third party to make other products such as automotive equipment and electronic accessories.

Bryan Scott, vice president of Environment, Health & Safety at Boeing stated that Boeing has demonstrated it is possible to be environmentally sustainable in a cost effective manner. He further added that they are the largest consumers of aerospace-grade composite and they are the only company who can recycle 100% of it.

The carbon fibre recycling process has been enforced at 2011 of Boeing’s global airplane manufacturing sites. The most excess carbon fiber sites are situated in Australia, the Puget Sound region of Washington state, and Salt Lake City, Utah. Boeing aims to train companies on the recycling process, starting with its supply chain.

Tia Benson Tolle, director of Advanced Materials and Product Development at Boeing stated that creating commercially viable solutions for recycling carbon fiber composites is not only good for the industry but the environment as well. He believes that it would be a win-win.

The company is advancing toward achieving various environmental goals by 2025. This includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25%, water utilization and soil waste at landfills by 20%, energy use by 10% and hazardous waste by 5%. Boeing’s industry-leading fuel-efficient product offerings and work with industry stakeholders has enabled aviation to achieve a global approach to carbon-neutral growth from 2020 onward and a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2025 levels.

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company that is the leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems and global services. As one of the world’s largest exporters, the company supports commercial and government customers in over 150 countries. The company employees over 160,000 worldwide and enjoys the talents of a global supplier base. Boeing continues to lead in technology and innovation and has created a legacy in aerospace leadership.